Standards

Standards

NCSS announces the publication of the revised national curriculum standards for social studies: National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: A Framework for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment

Click here for the NCSS press release announcing the publication of the standards on Constitution Day (September 17, 2010).

The revised standards, like the earlier social studies standards published in 1994, continue to be stuctured around the ten themes of social studies. However, the revised standards offer a sharper focus on:

Purposes

Questions for Exploration

Knowledge: what learners need to understand

Processes: what learners will be capable of doing

Products: how learners demonstrate understanding

The revised standards also include:

Enhancements in the descriptions of the ten themes and the associated learning expectations

The addition of new descriptions of standards-based class practices to time-tested descriptions that were included in the original edition of the standards

A stronger focus on student products and their assessment

An updated list of essential social studies skills and strategies, including literacy strategies

The Revised National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies

The revised standards, National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: A Framework for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment, were developed by a Task Force of the National Council for the Social Studies, and approved by the NCSS Board of Directors in March 2010.